It's Like Rain on Your Moving Day

Yesterday we got up early.    For months we have planned, we have viewed, offered, listed, staged, stored, showed and packed.  Now, we move.  Finally, something real.

Needless to say, after our little camping expedition the night before, we woke up kind of sore.  Truth is,  camping is best left with the young'uns.  During the night I both ached and felt a crippling numbness in every part of my body.  Yet, I slept.  And I woke up ready.

You see, I had not only planned the packing, but I had planned what we would take with us in the car and I had organized this to a point where there were areas of our now empty bedroom designated to "stuff that we needed easy access to at all times" and "stuff we won't need 'till we get there."  And that's the way we packed the car, according to my all powerful, logical, exhausted and to the point of insanity drill sergeant technique.  Or else.

And so, as you might expect, the final result of our packed car was one of perfection.  The blankets were strewn hither on the floor of the fully opened and expanded in the back seat/trunk.  The Stuff We Won't Need Till Later" was pushed up towards the front of the car and the stuff we would need access to at all times was at the back, covered with towels to discourage anyone from messing with either my stuff or my ultra neat design.

We were almost ready to leave, but first a couple of stops - one to drop off some of Dave's work to a client and the second to return the cable modems, remotes, etc, to the cable company. Both of these places are not far away but with the traffic, construction, and the current overpopulation  of holier-than-thou bicyclists it took us more than a half an hour to get there.  The first stop was the cable store, which turned out wasn't the kind of store that accepted modem returns.  So Dave hauled on over to the nearest REAL cable store, who happily embraced his old modems and remotes, and filled out the necessary paperwork.  Ok.  We were ON THE ROAD!!

We said goodbye to Toronto and headed (slowly) away from the city.  Once on the highway, we noticed a strange sound and a vibration.  And then a louder stranger sound and some thumping and knew it was a flat.  Oh, did I mention it was pouring rain?  We pulled off the highway. I reached for my raincoat and my "wellies" which I had expertly packed within easy reach from the passenger seat, and we went out to inspect the damage.  The tire was - well, it was no more.  Let's leave it at that.  The mini-spare was found and the jack was not. Since our car was "pre-owned", we suspect that since the jack was most likely some sort of fancy schmancy Mercedes Jack and that the "pre owner" might have decided to hold onto it- that, and most likely the full-size spare.

Dave called CAA, the automobile association with which his membership had expired.  After reinstating his membership and choosing to upgrade to a premium one for penance, we were told that someone would be there within an half hour.  Meanwhile we sat and waited inside the car, counting raindrops and the many travel minutes we were losing.   Saints be praised, the service man showed up early and helped put on the spare. We asked him "Do you think the rim is ok?" and he said "Yeah, it looks ok - rims don't usually bend easily."  Aces.

Now to find a tire.  We had two choices - the Mercedes dealer or Canadian Tire.  Luckily (yes, I did say the L word) the two were located side by side a short distance away.

Mercedes was very accomodating, but there were several cars ahead of us.  They suggested we try Canadian Tire and if they didn't have the tire, we could buy it from Mercedes and then have Canadian Tire install.  Right.  The Man at Canadian Tire said it could be done "within the hour."  I remember these words because I was clinging to them with the last threads of my life as they were the only things keeping me from falling off the cliff of sanity into the swirling void of madness below.

As I sat in the waiting room I saw this sign and hoped that God was not speaking through Canandian Tire instructional signs. 

Two hours later the car was ready.  My perfectly organized car now looked like The Beverly Hillbillies Truck on moving day,  but at that point I just pushed every in and pounded everything down and jumped into the front seat and ordered Dave to drive like the wind. A we pulled away, the man who installed our tires wished us luck on our trip and added "Don't worry if you feel a little vibration.  Your rim was slightly bent."

2:00 PM: The Roadtrip Begins.........